Estimates by Egyptologists suggest the Old Kingdom Pyramid of Pharaoh Djoser, also known as the Saqqara Step Pyramid, took around 20 years to build. It had six layers, one on top of the other, and was 203 feet tall when first built. Egyptologists have guessed the Djoser pyramid completion dates were 2670–2650 BCE. After it was built, skilled workers then spent a further 10 years connecting the pyramid with the Valley temple below, making its total construction time around 30 years. Because it was the first pyramid to be built, it took significantly longer to make than later pyramids of a similar size.
Quick Answer: How Old Are the Egyptian Pyramids?
Red Pyramid at Dashur. Source: Wikimedia Commons
The earliest pyramids were built around 2700 BCE, which means that it is 4,500 years old. Mesopotamian ziggurats are also considered pyramids, and they are even older, built in the 4th millennium BCE, which means they are around 6,000 years old.
Each Egyptian Pyramids of Giza Probably Took 15-27 Years to Build
The Three Giza Pyramids. Source: Travel and Leisure
The Bent Pyramid of Sneferu at Dashur is believed to be a transitional structure between the Step Pyramid and Senferu’s Great Pyramid on the Giza Plateau. It took an estimated ten to thirteen years to build. The pyramid was abandoned because it was discovered that the 54-degree angle of the construction was too steep. It was replaced by a 53-degree angle for Sneferu’s Red Pyramid at Dashur.
The Great Pyramid built for Pharaoh Khufu stands 455 feet tall alongside the smaller Pyramid of Khafre and Pyramid of Menkaure. Together, the group is known as the Giza Pyramid Complex, and all were built as part of a frenzied, 60-year period of construction in ancient Egypt between roughly 2550 BCE to 2490 BCE, led by a series of powerful Egyptian Pharaohs.
Accounts suggest that the largest Great Pyramid took between 20 and 27 years to complete. The Pyramid of Menkaure is the smallest of the three, and Egyptologists have guessed it took around 15 years to complete, so significantly less time than the Great Pyramid, because it is around half its size, at 200 feet. The Pyramid of Khafre is 448 feet high, sitting just below the Great Pyramid. It is guessed to have taken 20 years to complete, with ten years alone spent constructing its causeway.
Quick Answer: What Are the Nubian Pyramids?
Remains of the Nubian Pyramids at Meroe, Sudan. Source: Wikimedia Commons
When most people think of African pyramids, they think of Egypt, but the Nubians, living to the north of Egypt, were also building pyramids. Around 220 survive today. The practice started under the Kushite Kingdom, and they were built between 700 BCE and 350 CE. The Nubian pyramids are significantly smaller, standing between six and thirty meters tall.
How Were the Egyptian Pyramids Built so Quickly?
Building the Egyptian Pyramids. Source: DK Learning
Given that the Egyptian Pyramids have survived for over 4,000 years, the estimated time frames of 15 to 30 years that it took to build them seems relatively short. The ancient Egyptians had no access to the building techniques or modern technology of today. Instead, it is thought by Egyptologists that unbelievably vast teams of skilled workers were involved in pyramid construction. Some reports say 20,000 men, others 30,000, while others have guessed even 100,000 workers who used a series of complex sleds, rollers, levers, and ramps to move the stone blocks used to construct the massive pyramids.
Research still continues into how exactly such incredible structures were made in such short frames of time. Although we may never completely unravel the great mysteries of how long the Egyptian pyramids took to make, there is no doubt they are one of the most fascinating artifacts in the world, offering a window into one of the most complex and sophisticated human civilizations.